


Once More Through the Glass

by HelloIAmParker



Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Very Little Nightmares
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Good Dad Howard Stark, Good Mom Maria Stark, IS Little Nightmares 2 Compliant, Interlude : Six, Little Nightmares 2 Spoilers, Misunderstandings, Mono understands why Six did what she Did, Obie is a creeper, The Hunger of Six, The Stark support their Son, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is Mono, Tony is Ten/Eleven at the start of this, Tony is a survivor, Tony is always ready for war even if he doesnt have to fight, also vaguely references Very Little Nightmares, technomancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29511201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloIAmParker/pseuds/HelloIAmParker
Summary: In one world, Mono falls, down a tower, and he sits, and sits and sits and becomes something new, distorted by a broadcast he can't escape from.In another world, he's dropped by the only friend he's ever had and he lands in Howard Starks living room, thanks to a well placed TV thats distorted not just by the Signal Tower, but also the blue glare of the tessaract.
Relationships: Howard Stark & Maria Stark & Tony Stark, Mono & Six (Little Nightmares)
Comments: 53
Kudos: 207





	1. Where Things like Dominos Fall

**Author's Note:**

> LISTEN. I just really love Mono and i love Tony Stark and so...ta-da? No idea how long this will be, already writing chapter two as we speak.
> 
> ALSO. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR LITTLE NIGHTMARES 2, ENDING AND ALL. YE HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Everyone has always said, that Tony Stark has a way with electronics. Like they can speak to them, like Tony can listen and know whats wrong. 

That Tony has such a strange imagination, that his eyes are old for his body, his _soul_ is old.

Tony is barely ten, and has seen war and seen people jump to their deaths to follow the Broadcasts and he _cannot will not_ ignore what he's seen, even though Six lost her light, and glitched and let him fall so she would be safe.

_( He understands. It hurts and it twists in his soul and he is **angry** but he understands.)_

He fell through a TV, just enough spark in his soul to let him travel one last time to find himself spat out into the floor of a carpeted room and a very startled looking Howard Stark.

It is then he lost his moniker, bundled Mono up like the numerary thing it was and was given _Anthony_ by Maria Stark, who held him close and always smelled sweet. Smelled like flowers and soft perfume and not like clay and porcelain masks, not like _meat_ and hunger like the other adults around him always did. Even Howard, who smells like cigar smoke and the coffee he prefers, is a welcome change from _home_.

No one wears masks here. Things are normal sized and only one adult has tried to kill him, and found out that Tony may not go by Mono anymore, but he is still capable of _bloodthirst_ , of being vicious.

That he is a survivor.

Howard Stark comes into the warehouse where Tonys been taken and finds Tony fiddling with an old TV, almost like hes mourning it. Nearby, the kidnapper lays with some kind of elaborate trap that ended up with a sheet around his throat and no more kidnapper.

Howard brings Tony, and the TV both home.

No one kidnaps him again, not for several years at least.


	2. Back in Sessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, between School and the Maw, he thinks the Maw was probably kinder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i told you i was writing chapter two 

Tony doesn't talk much. Back Home, children aren't kept, they're given to School, or the Nest or sent to the Maw, where they're either raised as workers, warped by the Signal or they become food for the Lady and her guests.

Sometimes, between School and the Maw, he thinks the Maw was probably kinder. At least there was a chance for survival at the Maw, and not a porcelain laced death scream from the bullies and the Teacher at school.

So Tony is eleven, and his new parents sit him down and explain Tony needs to start going to school.

And Tony is furious with himself. He's gotten softer here. Grown a little more complacent under soft clothes and warm hugs and the lack of the Broadcast.

But he is, as he says, a survivor. So he nods when they explain this, and then excuses himself to his room. He promptly gathers everything unimportant, and takes it to the trash can. His drawings. Nomes and Six and even scattered beings like the Craftsman and Doctor.

The model airplane Howard gave him, the small folded flower Maria gave him, he hesitates, but keeps, tucking them down into the backpack. Its sentimental and may well get him killed, but...he gets rid of the rest. These, he keeps. The rest?

All of it, goes.

He thinks, carefully, tries to ignore the sting of Betrayal in his chest and thinks, this not a betrayal. They never _said_ they were going to keep him, did they? He simply let himself get complacent and gotten expectations. He crafts a few weapons, tucks them into pockets, hidden, something safe.   
  
He goes through his clothing, ignores the bright colors hes come to love, the flashy reds and golds, and puts them in a pile to be dyed. He needs browns and blacks, wearing color and flash at School will only make him a bigger target.  
  
He fashions a dye out of some household materials and into the bathtub it all goes, watches his favorite red shirt slowly leach into black and tries not to feel betrayed.  
  
Tries.  
  
The clothes, done and in the dryer has him sitting in front of it. One backpack will likely be all hes allowed, if hes allowed it at all. He needs to make a new jacket, his old one had been wonderful. Large pockets and hooks to hold the keys he had needed to get around. He can sew weapons and lock picks into the seams, and run some wiring around the edges. The wiring holds no real purpose, but having it near him makes the buzz of electricity that always hums in his head calm down.  
  
His clothes dry and he takes them upstairs, Some, still get thrown as well into the trash. Too loose, they will be handholds. The rest of them are carefully folded and tucked into his backpack, ready to go.  
  
The next day, at breakfast, they tell him they're gonna go see his school. Let him see everything. How rich, these people must be he thinks, to give Tony an edge like letting him see the battlefield before the war. Honestly. He nods, and promses he'll be ready.


	3. Preparation for the Sake of Survival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony prepares, and misunderstands.

He puts on boots, and his black pants and his newly dyed black shirt, and the jacket he spent all night sewing together. He frowns, and then tucks a few small shanks into his pocket, wishes he had a hammer - here, they are mostly held in the hand. He doesn't need two of them and a running start to take out a bully now. Though, the bullies will have the same advantages.

He comes back down stairs and pretends he doesn't see Marias worried look. Or the contemplative look Howard has. Instead of leaving though, Howard comes over, directs Tony to the couch. Maria looks puzzled, but follows. 

"What do you think we are doing today?"

"You are taking me to see the School before the others arrive, so i may get a lay of the land." He said, finally, thinking he should have tucked away a lockpick too. It never hurts to be prepared. "I spent last night preparing. I did what i could with the time i had before i leave."

"....Tony. _Mono_."

Tony blinks up at him, surprised. Since he's arrived, no one has used the name assigned to him back home. They renamed him and took him in and it was fine. He honestly hasn't minded.

"What is school to you?"

"It the place where the Teacher resides."

Howard puts his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

"Yes, you're correct. How did you prepare."

"I removed unneccessary things from the room, to prepare it for whoever comes in after i'm gone. I wasn't sure about what the possibilities for weaponry so i fashioned what i could, and worked last night with Matron Ana's help to sew a new jacket from my old one to prepare. I dyed my clothing as i didn't have much by way of brown or black and i packed it ready to go. I didn't...." He hesitates, his stomach twisting, but Tony is many things. A coward is not one of them. "...I didn't get rid of the airplane you gave me, or the flower i was given either. I will make sure i do before i go, i know it was a foolish sentiment-"  
  
For the first time since this tiny boy fell into his office, Howard thinks hes never seen Tony so animated.  
  
They've forgotten that Tony isn't really a child. He's grown up with nothing but violence and survival under his finger tips. Has killed. Has _been_ killed, if some of the things he's told them in small stories here and there are true. Howard has been buying him clothes, and watching him grow and now he looks at an eleven year old who has eyes that have seen far too many things.  
  
He's forgotten that Tony has seen war, has fought for his life.  
  
"We've forgotten that you're not a child Tony, even if you're young. Here, school is a place for learning, and you would be coming home at the end of the day. There is no violence or fighting there, and you would not have to prove yourself to stay."  
  
".....perhaps homelearning would be a better option, for now. And we can include things in our school - in our _learning_ that would better help you understand the differences between where you came from, and where you are." Maria says, and Tony can't quite believe it, but....he knows its different here. Has seen it first hand.  
  
"...I would like that."  
  
"Good. Instead of school today, lets go back to the store. I heard you say you dyed your clothes? Well, you'll definitely need some new red shirts then. Also, lets get your things out of the trash."  
  
Tony gave a hesitant smile, and feels the sting of betrayal unwind.  
  
  



	4. Knowing and Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It will be worth it, he's sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you guys have ideas for what you want to see lemme know! I’m up to date on all the games (LN, LN2 & VLN), comics and tie-ins. I’ve seen the secret endings and trailers and all that jazz. If you wanna get caught up check out SuperHorrorBro on YT, not a promotion he just does good theories lol 

They still take him to see the school, because the appointment was made. Tony....doesn't like it. Its too big, too open and he spends a good five minutes watching a cell tower partially frozen and trying to see if the trees are bending towards it before Howard scoops him up, and takes him away.

Tony hides his face. He is a survivor, but Howard and Maria allow him to be young.

Instead, they go buy some more red shirts, rescue his drawings and they sit down to work out a 'learning' plan. A schedule and things to focus on. A large chunk of each day is devoted simply to creative things.

It can be whatever he wants, they say. Art or building or reading or simply contemplation, given that he does it somewhere he's actually thinking of things.

Tony draws a lot. Bits and pieces of a home that is slipping farther and farther away, and he's not very keen on keeping it in his finger tips to be completely honest.

And then one day, he is with Howard in the lab, and after offering his curiosity, Howard gives him some tools and lets Tony build next to him at the lab desk, supervised of course, but still his own small space.

Tony smiles, at the little dog he has built, a crude form to be sure but easily recognizable as a dog. He puts his hands on it, and watches as the little dog's eyes light up and it barks. Tony grins widely, happy he's made something with no malice. No capacity for violence.

Just a little puppy.

Howard watches, and he knows keeping Tony home was definitely the right idea. Now he just needs to help ferret out everything else they need to show Tony is wrong about Home and go from there. It will be a long, arduous task.

It will be worth it. He's sure.


	5. Like a Scene from Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people are born slimy and Tony can see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive had this idea in the back of my head for a bit but wasnt sure honestly if i wanted to do i or not. Im not sure how closely this story is going to stick to canon but theres already a lot of ideas im having 

Tony is having his twelfth birthday when he meets Obadiah, and he hates him. He **hates** him. 

He makes Tonys stomach hurt and he thinks he could see Obie sitting comfortable in the Maw, back home. If not eating, then trying to ply the Geisha into following his side. Perhaps sharing a chat with the Craftsman, bleaching bones in old tubs for the Pretender.

Tony sees Howard and Maria, how close they are to Obadiah, and how Obadiah looks at him, almost hungry, like those back home that would have picked him from between their teeth and then moved to their next course. Tony sees how he _watches_ Howard the same way, dismisses Maria which makes Tony _almost_ as Angry. Maria is wonderful and Tony couldn't have ended up with a better person to call his _Mama,_ even if he's only brave enough to do it quietly in his room. 

Everyone is gone, later, when Tony comes to Howard and Maria, before TV time in the evening. Its some of Tonys favorite time, they all watch something together on the older tube TVs that make Tony feel safe and in control.

"I do not like Obadiah."

Howard is startled out of where he's trying to fix the dial on the TV. Tony doesn't talk much anyway, though thats kind of coming and going these days. But one thing Tony doesn't do, period, is really show preference.

In all the time he's been here, these almost two years, the only things he has shown them for are red shirts, old electronics and rocket ships. Well, and Maria's perfume but hell Howard finds that comforting himself.

So this kind of blunt thing right out there? its...startling and worrying.

"Why not, Tony?" He asked, shifting to sit up, Maria copying him from her spot on the couch, popcorn in hand, and giving Tony their complete attention.

Tony takes a moment to think of how to put it into words, and he speaks in a bit of a halting speech, like hes not sure how to say it. "....I look at him, and I feel as if I'm back where i came from."

Howard blanches a little at that because honestly that says a lot more than any one single other sentence Tony could have said.

Maria nodded. "Then we trust your judgement." She told him, seriously. Tony has never steered them wrong before. Hell, he even noticed the problem in the stove before it caught fire. He's their son, in their end, and Obadiah is a friend but he's not family.

Howard hesitates, because he _is_ friends with Obie, but then he nods. The decision is not an easy one for him but he won't make a different one. "Then he is gone. We will take care of it."

Tony loses a lot of tension, and they realize he must have expected them to side with Obadiah. He crawls up between them, and they settle in for their movie night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man i wonder what would happen if tony met someone whose brain kept getting zapped by electricity. Just...thoughts for the ether... 8)
> 
> Lemme know if you have any ideas or things you think would be cool to see here, either from LN or MCU universe (movies or shows either) or even just characters. I'll see what i can do. 


	6. Interlude : Static is Not So Filling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Static does not sustain well, but it’s an excellent string for her to follow elsewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

She is _hungry_. 

This is common, of course. Mono helped her survive, even when she had to drop him to save herself, and even after the Geisha, after the denizens of the Maw, she hungers.

The Geisha though, it sustains longer than the others. The monsters here are nothing, snacks to her growling insides. Monos magic had filled her like static, ever present, even a comfort after time. The Geishas like a meal.

But sometimes the static buzzes loud and she thinks to follow it. Knows she can follow it.

Six turns to the last place she expected to go, flips on the TV and finally does what she has started to do, a half dozen times. She focuses on the TV, hands to its screen, and thinks. Focuses.

And reaches for Mono.


	7. Animals and Hides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes its easier to hide what you're doing.

Tony has a panic attack the first time they visit the museum. Sure, they've gone to the zoo once or twice, but it was very fun and they only stuck to the live animals, and some of the figures.

The first time they go to the museum, and Tony sees the taxidermied animals, he has a panic attack. There's no build up or wait or hesitation - he panics, immediately, and Howard scoops him up, he and Maria going to a small room out of the way, to let Tony breathe and cry.

They just talk to him, tell him about the day and remind him about the sitcom they watched yesterday and know that the best way to let Tony work through is it to do just that - work through it.

Just help keep him distracted and let him sort it out. Later on, Tony explains a little about the wilderness and the Huntsman and well - Howard makes sure he gets rid of any of the pieces still up on the walls, that so far Tony hasn't mentioned.   
  
Their kid is too good at ignoring things that make him uncomfortable.

* * *

Later that day, back home, going to make dinner they ran into an issue. They'd laid out some kind of food in the fridge to make dinner with, but Maria noticed it was gone.

Howard assumes maybe they'd used it and forgot, or perhaps Tony had decided he wanted something to eat but hadn't mentioned it - they were still working on problems with food trust, Tony sometimes didn't feel comfortable eating in front of them.  
  
And after the panic attack at the museum he's honestly not surprised to see Tony slipping into a bit of his older habits.

So Howard sets out to buy a lot of small snack things and puts them in the bottom of the fridge, so Tony can graze if he wants. And when he sees them slowly disappearing, he's glad. It makes him happy to know Tony is grabbing the food he wants.

Though he did think Tony didn't enjoy meat this much, the jerky sticks seem to be very popular. He buys more and keeps it well stocked.

And the next time they're out, at a small park this time and Howard offers to buy Tony a small gift basket of the snack in different flavors, Tony looks at him a little confused.

"I'd rather not eat meat." He reminds him. He does, sometimes, but not for the most part. Howard chalks this up to something Tony feels the need to be quiet about or feel ashamed about and just keeps the bowls of them stocked in the fridge.

Neither he or Maria touch the things, so if Tony feels the need to be secretive about eating them, well. Howard loves him and he'll let him keep any and all secrets he needs. Tony will tell them eventually, if he wants.

**Author's Note:**

> (As always pls leave any ideas you have down below I promise I read every comment *heart* )


End file.
